Sleep Fragmentation and Attention in Alzheimer's Disease

描述（由申请人提供）：这个拟议的3年职业发展奖的总体目标是（PWAD）。具体来说，我将1）在PWAD中使用和解释睡眠和认知的客观测量方面进行高级培训，2）获得睡眠机制和AD认知表现的详细知识，3）获得建立研究计划所需的技能，旨在了解急性和慢性碎片化睡眠的机制及其对PWAD的影响。除了课程，指导学习，并出席专业会议。我建议开始研究1个晚上的睡眠碎片和1个晚上的不受干扰的恢复睡眠对PWAD的注意力的影响。虽然有初步证据表明，睡眠片段会影响没有认知障碍的人的注意力，但没有人在PWAD中研究过。阿尔茨海默病主要被认为是一种记忆受损的疾病，虽然注意力与记忆力不同，但注意力的能力是记忆力的先决条件，无法注意可能会导致或恶化记忆投诉。我是一名高级实习护士，在我的实践中，我照顾过老年人，其中许多人患有痴呆症。在阿肯色州医学科学大学与Kathy理查兹和科尔内利亚Beck博士进行博士后研究，在PWAD的睡眠研究领域开辟了一条新的职业道路，有可能增加对睡眠碎片对PWAD认知的短期和长期影响的理解，并希望有针对性地采取干预措施，减缓他们的记忆力下降。但我是这个领域的新手，需要职业发展奖提供的额外时间来继续发展专业知识。自从我们共同致力于这个项目以来，我一直在努力制定一项提案，该提案将补充而不是重复理查兹博士和贝克的工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching goal of this proposed 3 year career development award is (PWAD). Specifically, I will 1) pursue advanced training in the use and interpretation of objective measurements of sleep and cognition in PWAD, 2) gain detailed knowledge of mechanisms underlying sleep and the cognitive manifestations of AD, and 3) acquire the skills needed to build a program of research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of acute and chronically fragmented sleep and its effect on PWAD. In addition to coursework, guided studies, and attendance at professional meetings. I propose to begin by investigating the effect of 1 night of sleep fragmentation and 1 night of undisturbed recovery sleep on attention in PWAD. Although there is beginning evidence that sleep fragmentation affects attention in persons without cognitive impairment, no one has studied it in PWAD. Alzheimer's disease is primarily thought of as a disease of impaired memory and although attention is not the same as memory, the ability to pay attention is a prerequisite for memory and the inability to pay attention may cause or worsen memory complaints. I am an advanced practice nurse and in my practice I have cared for older adults, many of whom had dementia. Postdoctoral study at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences with Drs. Kathy Richards and Cornelia Beck has opened a new career path in the area of sleep research in PWAD that has the potential to increase understanding of the short-term and long-term effects of sleep fragmentation on cognition in PWAD and hopefully, to target interventions that will slow their memory decline. But I am a novice in this field and need the additional time a career development award provides to continue to develop expertise. Since our mutual commitment to this project I have worked to develop a proposal that will complement and not duplicate Drs. Richards and Beck's work.